Patriots Super Bowl champion believes Jerod Mayo was ‘set up’
"What miracle were we expecting Jerod to perform in 17 games?"
The Patriots made the call less than an hour after their 2024 season ended to fire Jerod Mayo.
But even if New England had several compelling reasons to move on from the first-year head coach, former Patriots tight end Ben Watson believes that Mayo was set up to fail in his lone year on the job.
“Jerod Mayo was set up,” Watson posted on X. “Bill [Belichick] goes 4-13 in his last season with a roster void of top tier talent. What miracle were we expecting Jerod to perform in 17 games? If he wasn’t going to get an adequate chance to build a roster then why hire him?”
Mayo’s misfires during exchanges with the media, New England’s severe regression on the defensive side of the ball, and the Patriots’ lack of aggression on fourth-down and late-game situations all played a part in the coach’s short tenure in Foxborough.
But Watson does have a point in terms of poor roster construction that gave Mayo a limited margin for error.
Despite the potential that Drake Maye showcased in his rookie season, de-facto GM Eliot Wolf did little over the offseason to shore up critical deficiencies on New England’s depth chart.
After whiffing on offseason pursuits of both Calvin Ridley and Brandon Aiyuk, New England made limited upgrades on offensive weapons — with K.J. Osborn being a bust and both Austin Hooper and Antonio Gibson (while solid additions) not doing enough to move the needle.
On the offensive line, the Patriots handed out a contract to Chukwuma Okorafor in hopes he’d be the team’s starting left tackle — but he only logged 12 snaps before leaving the team in early September.
Okorafor’s departure and Wolf’s inability to add any additional depth forced New England to roll out a porous tackle grouping headlined by Vederian Lowe and Demontrey Jacobs.
Add in Wolf’s whiffs in the 2024 NFL Draft after Maye (Ja’Lynn Polk over Ladd McConkey), and Mayo didn’t exactly have a full cupboard to work with when it comes to generating any sort of momentum entering the 2025 season.
Still, when it comes to building off whatever talent that New England does boast on its rebuilding roster, Robert Kraft believed that a new voice was needed to lead the Patriots in 2025 and beyond.
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